Guns and Roses
by nevermore199
Summary: After many trials, Izumi and Meroko are finally together again. But the road of love isn't always a happy one, and happiness can never exist without pain. Post-manga, Izumi x Meroko.
1. hold me tight

**This format is one of my favorites lately. I'm writing another series of drabbles (Twilight, Jacob x Bella) with this format. Hmm. Wonder why.**

**I should mention that this is pure Izumi x Meroko and not much else. Takes place after the end of the manga.**

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After Mitsuki's last song, Meroko flies off for some time alone. She needs to think about things for just a minute. And she's sure that Mitsuki wants some time with Takuto, too.

She isn't far when a voice behind her said, "Turn around, Meroko."

Meroko turns, and yelps as someone practically jumps on her, wrapping her in their arms. "I-Izumi!" she cries. "What are you—?"

"So Takuto and I were talking during the concert," Izumi says lightly, a smile in his voice. "You'll never guess what he told me."

Meroko blushes. "Oh—oh, he—he told you—he told you that I—?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Meroko gives a shaky laugh. "Yes—well—I see." She looks up. "Izumi, you can let go now…"

Izumi laughs and tightens his hold around Meroko. "No, Meroko. Never again. I'll never let you go again."

Meroko can't help but smile as she lifts her arms to return his embrace.

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I'll update with these as often as I possibly can. Honest I will.

**RRE.**


	2. return again to me

**I have not much to say. So, yeah. Enjoy.**

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They sit together on a random human roof the next day, and she looks toward the sun as he absently plays with a long lock of her hair. Once or twice they engage in conversation, but mostly they are silent, and she likes it that way. This sweet and simple quiet, without anything hard—it's exactly what she wants.

She's a little surprised when he clears his throat. "So do you want to be my partner again?" he asks.

Meroko gives a slightly mocking smile. "What a stupid question, Izumi. Of course I want to."

"Then that's settled," Izumi says, dropping her hair and leaning in to give her a light kiss on the forehead.

"That's settled," Meroko agrees. "Are we keeping the same name?"

"And you thought my question was stupid," Izumi teases. Meroko gives him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Of course we're keeping it the same." Izumi wraps his arm around Meroko, pulling her close. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Meroko."

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Oh, yeah…The title of this little drabble collection is taken from a song. At least, I think it's a song. It might be a band. I can't remember.

**RRE.**


	3. buy me a beautiful ribbon

**I don't know if Shinigami have shops. But they have to get clothes from somewhere (I mean, they start out with **_**nothing**_**, after all). So we're going to pretend that they have shops and that they are required to pay for stuff. Yeah.**

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Not long after they reform their partnership, Meroko drags Izumi shopping for white clothes. He complains and tells her that he has other things to do, but she can tell that he doesn't really mind.

They pick out matching outfits, and he even cracks a smile when she comes out in her new dress.

"Remind me why we're doing this?" he asks as they're in line, waiting to pay.

"White is the color of new beginnings," she answers simply. "And that's what we're having. A new beginning together. So don't you think we should have something to symbolize that?"

Izumi looks up. "I see. Tell me one other thing, though."

"Hmm?"

"What are you going to do with the outfit I gave you?"

Behind the teasing tone is a seriousness, and Meroko gives him a gentle look and says, "It's going to go somewhere very special."

"If I come over and find it in the back of your closet…"

"I mean it, Izumi! Somewhere special! I promise!"

"Whatever you say…"

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Warning: the story isn't going to be all fluff. It's slowly approaching the latter half, and the latter half is a bit darker. I hope you didn't come here expecting nothing but happiness. Don't you know me better than that by now?

**RRE.**


	4. angel in the sky

**This one is really short. Really short. But it's important, even if it doesn't look like it.**

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Izumi and Meroko are trying to convince the other Shinigami—or whatever they are—that they are angels after all, citing what Mitsuki said. But things are hard. The others don't want to believe it; they have such an ingrained sense of punishment and lowliness that they can't accept that there are better things out there.

Every now and then, Izumi feels like giving up, but it only takes another look at Meroko's smile—filled with all the sunlight and radiance of the world—to rekindle the hope in his heart and give him the ability to join right in with her passionate speeches.**

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Next chapter is when the story starts to get dark. Be warned.

**RRE.**


	5. i'll turn your tears to roses

**And this is where the story turns down a slightly darker path. But this is the installment I'm probably the most proud of. I just love it.**

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Meroko has nightmares now.

When Izumi asks, she laughs it off and says that it's nothing.

But at night, she wakes up screaming and sobbing, and she practically throws herself into the arms of a frightened Izumi, who strokes her hair and wipes her tears away through the long hours it takes for her to fall back asleep.

One night, Meroko keeps on shrieking despite Izumi's efforts to wake her up. The tears run in rivers down her face, and her body thrashes around wildly.

"Meroko!" Izumi whispers. "Meroko, wake up! It's me, it's Izumi! Wake up!"

After another couple of minutes, Meroko's eyes snap open, and her screaming abruptly stops as the breath runs out of her. She stares at Izumi with wide, wet, unseeing eyes.

"Are you alright?" Izumi asks, brushing the moisture from Meroko's face and fixing her with a concerned look. "Answer me, are you alright? Meroko?"

"Izumi…?" Meroko whispers. Her fingers slowly lift up to touch Izumi's face, as if she doesn't believe that he's really there.

"Yes," Izumi answers softly. "I'm here, Meroko. I'm right here."

He pulls Meroko into an embrace, gently crushing Meroko against his chest. Meroko sniffles, and fresh tears begin to fall.

"Izumi…" she whimpers. Somehow, this is more frightening to Izumi than the usual sobs. "Izumi…don't go…don't leave me…please…don't leave me…"

Izumi's eyes widen, and his hand freezes on her back. "That's what you were dreaming about?"

Meroko's body shakes violently, and Izumi feels her nod.

"It's okay," Izumi whispers into her ear. "Don't worry, Meroko. I'll always be with you. I'm never going to leave you again. I promise."

Meroko begins sobbing once again, but this time, her tears are filled with joy and relief.

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The title of this drabble is taken from the song "Whispers in the Dark" by Skillet. Which everyone should listen to, because it's one of those songs that screams Izumi x Meroko.

**RRE.**


	6. kill me, kiss me

**And this installment is why our lovely story is rated T. I'm not getting sued, thank you.**

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He invites her over to his house one evening, and she doesn't have a clue how it happened—one minute they were wondering about Takuto and making plans to visit Mitsuki, and the next they were kissing and rolling on the floor.

She knows what's about to happen.

Even as she responds forcefully to his kiss, her hands are clenched into fists on the floor and she realizes that _scared_ doesn't even begin to cover it.

When she finally gets her lips free from his, she manages to choke out, "Izumi—" and then breaks off and shivers violently as she feels his hand, heavy on her thigh, and she's so frightened that she doesn't know what to do.

"Izumi," she whispers, her voice barely audible. Her eyes squeeze shut. "Stop."

It takes him a few seconds, but he gets up off of her and lets her sit up and take a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry," he finally says.

"Don't say that," Meroko replies. "It's not your fault. It's just—I'm just not _ready_ for that." She fixes him with a pleading look. "You…understand, right?"

"Of course. If you're not ready, then I understand. Whatever you want, Meroko."

She nearly melts when she hears these words and sees the look on his face—so selfless. It makes her want to give him what he wants—to let him dive into her and worry about it later.

But no. She can't. She knows that rushing into something that she's not ready for isn't the way to go. No. This time, she's going to do things right.

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Meroko-chan has finally had a breakthrough. And even Izumi-kun. As much as I love those two together, it takes them a while to realize that relationships involve talking, too. If you don't talk through the hard parts, you can't get to the fun.

**And no, that was ****not**** a sex joke. Good grief.**

**RRE.**


	7. words unspoken

**Like I said. This story was never meant to be all fluff.**

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Ever since that night, words are slightly harder to say between them. Sometimes they sit in a different kind of silence, with a good few feet between them, clogged under the tension in the air. The quiet is no longer peaceful—now it is awkward.

Meroko hates that.

But she realizes that they haven't done a whole lot of talking since getting back together. They haven't talked about what's _really_ between them. Most importantly, they haven't talked about their feelings or the darker shades of their ever-turbulent relationship, or a certain rainy day so long ago.

A part of Meroko wants to let the bad parts go. _Come on,_ she almost begs herself. _We don't have to do this again, do we? Can't we just forget that all the bad stuff happened? Why can't we just move on and let it go?_

But Meroko has learned that that's not the way love goes. They have to talk out the hard parts before they can really start over. If they try to go on without thinking about the bad things, then their relationship will never work out.

As much as Meroko wants to avoid this fact, she knows that it's the truth.

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Now, if only the manga had been about five volumes larger, then a real breakthrough on this relationship could have been worked in, and my rating of the Full Moon manga would have gone from a 1 million to a 2.743 million. But, hey. That's what I'm here for. Wink.

**RRE.**


	8. you're everything to me

**I think that this is kind of the turning point. Because Izumi and Meroko finally start talking about the darker memories between them, and realize that it hasn't torn them apart. Yay, you two!**

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One night, she can't sleep, and goes outside to look at the stars. She finds him already waiting in her usual spot.

"Hi," she says softly, sitting down next to him.

"Hi." He doesn't remove his gaze from the stars. "What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep." Meroko rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Same."

They are both quiet for a minute. Then Meroko straightens up and says, "Izumi, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Well…" Meroko hesitates. "It was…I was wondering about…"

For the first time, Izumi turns to look at Meroko. "What is it? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Meroko reassures him. "It's just…I'm not sure it's a question you want to answer."

Izumi's expression becomes slightly more guarded, but he says, "Go ahead."

"It was about…the day that you…broke us up." The words sound all wrong in Meroko's mouth, but she keeps going. "I was wonder…about why you…did that."

Izumi looks away.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," Meroko says quickly. "I just…never mind. Forget about it. You don't have to tell me."

A long moment passes. Finally, Izumi whispers, "Because I'm an idiot and a coward."

"What do you mean?"

Izumi smirks bitterly. "I was afraid. Of you, of love, of being close to anyone. And also, I didn't think that I deserved your love. I felt like you would be much better off with someone else. But you never listened to me when I told you that, so I tried forcing you into it." He gives a short, forced laugh. "It didn't do any good, obviously."

"Oh…" Meroko lifts her hand and touches Izumi's shoulder. "Oh. Okay."

They're silent for the rest of the night after that, and the relief Meroko feels is so deep that she can't put it into words. She doesn't know how to articulate this feeling—that a weight has been lifted, that maybe she and he are finally getting somewhere.

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Aw…Somehow, I feel that this is immeasurably sweet. Maybe I need to lay off the soda…

**RRE.**


	9. the truth

**Almost done here. We haven't had much focus on Izumi, so here you go.**

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On the rare moments that they're not together, he sits alone and thinks about her. Everything—her pure smile, her eyes alight with joy and hope, her long strawberry locks flowing in the wind—make him want to grab onto her and never let her go again.

He remembers how she asked him about that fateful rainy day, and his eyes tighten with pain. It was so hard to answer her, to finally tell her about his shameful weakness. He almost didn't answer.

But he knows that he has to make the most of his second chance, and do things right this time. Even if being honest is hard, he has to do it.

He remembers the night of the concert, when he and Takuto were talking, and Takuto told him what he already knew but wanted to hear anyway.

"_She told me that she loves you."_

Izumi figures that if Meroko can be honest, so can he.

Besides, he doesn't want Meroko to think that he doesn't love her. That's not a good way to start out a relationship.

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Yeah, so. I have nothing else to say. Next chapter is the last.

**RRE.**


	10. always

**And now, the finale of our beautiful story. I had a good time writing this. Enjoy the final chapter, folks!**

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The days don't past quickly, but slowly, and Meroko feels grateful for that. She's happy that she and Izumi have all the time in the world, and she wants to make the most of it.

One day, as they sit in her room, she remarks, "I wonder why I never gave up on you."

Izumi turns to face her. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Meroko fingers the edge of her dress, thinking. "I wanted to. A lot of times. But I never did. I wonder why."

Izumi looks at her thoughtfully. "Do you want to know what I think?"

"What do you think?"

Izumi speaks slowly, carefully. "I think you never gave up on me because you knew, somehow, what I could never tell you. You knew that I really did love you, that I was sorry, and that I wasn't going to give up either."

He leans back a little and takes her hand. "I tried to tell you that so many times, but I could never figure out how to do it. I always thought that my message wasn't getting across, and that I would have to live without you forever."

A smile comes to his face. "Maybe you realized what I couldn't say."

Meroko smiles back. "Maybe."

She's a little surprised when he leans in and kisses her, but responds in kind, her arms snaking up and around him, her heart reveling in the feel of his lips, soft and tender on hers.

Maybe Izumi is right. Maybe that was the reason she never gave up on him. Maybe she'd had some vision in her heart—some hope of someday ending up with this—and wanted to see it through to the end. Maybe, deep down, she'd always understood what Izumi was trying to say.

Maybe the whole time, she'd been holding out for this.

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And that's the end.

I know this is definitely not one of my more popular stories, but I had fun writing it. Check my forum in the very near future for some comments on the writing of this story!

**RRE.**


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